Improvement in road-engines



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

H, BRIDENTHAL. Jr.

Road-Engine.

No. 212,889. Parnted Mar.4.1879.

1 aw deter PETERS. PHOTO-LITHGGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. D c.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

H. H. BRIDENTHAL, Jr. Road-Engine.

889 Patented Mar. 4,1879.

@z'tn e men or I I 7 N.PETERS, PHOTD-LITHOGRAPHER, WA$H1NG TTTTT C.

STATES PATENT QFF'ICE.

HARRY H. BRIDENTHAL, JR, OF LATRQBE, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN ROAD-ENGINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 212,889, dated March 4,1879; application filed November 1, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY H. BRIDENTHAL,

' J r., of Latrobe, in the county of Westmoreland The invention consistsin an arrangement of i the axles and their connections with the framin gand boiler, in the arrangement of the gearing connecting the engine andthe driving ground'wheels, and in an improved clutch and speed-gearmechanism for regulating the relative speeds of the engine and drivingground-' wheels.

Figure 1 is a top view of my improved machine. Fig.2 is a verticalsection of the equational gear upon the line S t S t, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 isa vertical section of the friction clutch upon the line L O L O ofFig. 1. Fig. etis a side elevation of the machine. Fig. 5 is a detachedtop view of the steering-gear, and Fig. 6 is a side view of thespeed-gear counter-shaft bearbimilar letters and figures of referencewhere they occur refer to like parts of the machine in all the drawings.

The rear end of the boiler B is supported upon the rear axle,l?, bymeans of a pair of brackets or arms, a u, firmly bolted to said boiler,while their opposite ends rest upon and are bolted to the springs U U,which are, in turn, fastened to and rest upon the axle P.

O is a stout curved bar, firmly attached to the rear axle, I, near theends, thus forming a frame, which supports the ground-wheeldrivlng-gear.

The frame 0 is connected with the boiler 13 by the rods v c and 3 whichare provided with suitable joint-connections on the said frame andboiler, so as to allow the boiler to swing freely vertically upon thesprings U U.

Beneath the forward end of the boiler 13 is firmly bolted a springsaddle, to which is attached the spring T, which, in turn, rests upon aspring-saddle having a ball-socket bearing formed therein, which restsupon the ball-pivot 2 at the center of the forward axle, H, as shown inFigs. 4 and 5.

By this construction the boiler and engine rest upon spring-bearings atboth ends, thus enabling the machine to ride easily on rough roads.

The large circle-plate A is firmly bolted to the axle H, and is providedwith a flange upon its upper inner edge, so as to form a groove, inwhich play the steering-chains L L, which are connected with saidcircle'plate near the for-' ward side, as shown in Fig. 5.

In the forward end of a bar, I, is formed an eye, which fits loose overthe base of the pivotstud z, and is held down upon the axle H by a pinpassing through said stud, and in such a manner as to allow the bar toswing freely about the axis of said stud. The rear end of the bar I isconnected with the boiler by a hook firmly attached thereto, and workingin an eye in said bar. A suitable stud, M, holds the rear edge of thecircle-plate A down upon the bar I in such a manner as to allow the axleis connected with the vertical shaft Bby means of the bevel-gear E. Theshaft 1% is provided with suitable bearings at its lower end and in thefoot-board S, where it is also provided with a ratchet wheel, X, keyedthereto, and the pawls c a, while on the upper end is keyed the largehand-wheel Z, and within convenient reach of a person seated upon theseat B.

The rear ends of the chains L L are coiled in opposite directions aboutthe shaft K, and secured thereto by means of the adjustable lug-sleevesN N, which are secured in place by means of setscrews, so as to adjustthe chains and keep them stretched tight.

By this construction the attendant seated upon the seat B can easilysteer the machine at will, and can operate the pawls a a with his feet,thus assisting his hands in managing the steering-wheel on rough or onstraight roads.

011 the ends of the rear axle, P, are formed ordinary spindles, uponwhich are hung the driving ground-wheels G and G, the hubs of which areextended inward a short distance. To the inward extension of the saidhubs are firmly connected the hubs of the large gearwheels t t Thewheels it could be connected directly to the arms of the ground-wheelsG; but I prefer making the connection at the hub, as by thisconstruction the gear wheels can be boxed closely, which is verynecessary for obvious reasons.

Motion is communicated to the driving ground-wheels Gr G by means of thechainbelt Y, pinions s s, and the equational gearF p on the shaft g,which is hung in bearin gs in the frame 0.

The equational gear consists of the equalsized bevel-wheels m and n andthe pulley F, all rotating about the same axis and upon the shaft g.

The bevel-wheel m is fast upon the shaft q, while the pulley F andbevel-whecl 7L run loose.

The pulley F carries the idle or intermediate bevel-pinion p, which ishung loose upon the radial pin 0 in said pulley F, and which meshes incommon with both the bevel-wheels m and a.

As before mentioned, the bevel-wheel m is fast upon the shaft q, whilethe opposite wheel, a, is rigidly connected with the inner end of ashort sleeve, which extends through and has bearings in the frame 0,while on the outer end of the said short sleeve is hung the pinion s,meshing with the wheel t on the ground-wheel G, while the wheel m is,through the shaft (1 and the pinion 8, connected with the oppositeground drive-wheel, t. The shaft q being permitted to turn freely withinthe sleeve of the pinion and wheels n s and pulley F, it is obviousthat, motion being applied to the pulley F, the force or power will bedistributed equally between the ground-wheels G and G by theintermediate pinion, p, acting on the principle of a scale-beam, betweenthe bevel-wheels m and n, and that when the machine is passing aroundcurves, as in turning, as one ground-wheel must travel farther andfaster than .the opposite, the pinion p, turning on its axis-pin, allowsthe wheels or and n to rotate relatively, thus keeping the groundwheelsalways tight in gear.

The design and construction of the engine proper and its connectionsdoes not differ materially from that of the ordinary well-known portableengine hence it needs no description iere.

On the main shaft of the engine is secured a series of speedgear-wheels, 0 O", which mesh with a similar series of wheels, N N, butreverse in order of size, hung loose upon the counter-shaft b revolvingin suitable adjustable bearings connected with the pillowblocks of themain shaft or otherwise, as may be desired, and parallel with the mainshaft t.

The wheels N and N are made fast with their shaft by means of theirrespective clutches d and d, which are, with the hub or clutch-faces oftheir respective wheels, provided with teeth, arranged to engage only inone direction.

The clutches d d are provided with a single flange, which engages a studon the upper and lower branches of the forked shipper-leversf f, pivotedto the frame 9. The said levers ff thus serve only to disengage the saidclutches and hold them out of gear when necessary,

while the coil-springs i and t" serve to ship and hold them in gear.

On the main shaft of the engine is hung loose the gear-wheel X, which,with the pinion or gear-wheel j, secured on the end of the counter-shaftd, forms a third or the end step uniform with the speed-gears 0 d 0 d,and it is provided with a clutch, 7c, coil-spring r, and theshipper-lever Z, all similar and also uniform with the said speed-gearsO elf, except that the shipper-lever lis pivoted directly to thepillow-block W. The gear-wheel X is provided with a projecting flange,to which is secured the chain-pulley D by means of a plate or disk, 1,and the bolts to, the pulley I) being provided with suitable flanges forthe purpose. When excessive resistance is encountered by theground-wheels or their connections, the pulley D will slip on the wheelX, thus forming a friction-clutch. The plate 1*,being of properthickness,forms aspring. In consequence of the necessarily high speed ofthe engine, and the irregular resistance and motion of theground-wheels, the friction-clutch serves a useful purpose in preventingbreakage, especially 011 steep and uneven roads.

A rack-bar, N is firmly secured to the top of the boiler and beneath theshipper-levers f f l, which serves to hold said levers in position.

A greater or a less number of speed-gears may be used, as may bedesired, so as to allow the engine and drive-wheels Gr G to run at anynumber of relatively different speeds. Four speeds arranged so as toallow the machine to travel at, say, one, two, four, and six miles perhour, with the engine running at a uniform rate, would probably be thebest arrangement.

The operator, being seated upon the seat B, can change the speedrelatively between the ground-wheels and engine by the levers fl whilethe machine is in operation. When it is desired to run the machine at ahigh rate of speed, the clutch K is connected, thus driving the pulley Ddirectly, when the clutches d 61 may or may not be disconnected, as thecoun ter-shaft b will be rotated faster than the wheels N and N; hencethey cannot connect, but will vslip past. The arrangement of the singleflanges allows the teeth to pass without vibrating the levers f f, aswould be the case if said levers were geared tight with the clutch. Whenit is desired to slow the motion of the machine while in operation it isnecessary to release the clutch of the speed-gear it is desired to use,when the coil-spring will bring the clutch-faces together, and theoperatingclutch may then be disconnected, when the previously-arrangedgear will instantly engage Without any serious jar.

hen the machine is about to ascend a steep grade, or Where extradrawing-power is required, the operator may, in the manner described,connect a slower-speed gear, and allow the engine to run faster and thegroundwheels slower, and thus augment the drawingforce of the machine.WVhen the machine is traveling on level roads, or without load, theengine may be made to run as slow as Will generate sufficient power forpropulsion. Thus fuel and water may be greatly eeonomized.

The counter-shaft b is hung in sliding bearings c, rigidly connectedwith opposite ends of the bar or frame g, and are, by means of slidingconnections, secured, respectively, to the pillow-block W and theengine-frame Q, in a manner so that the said counter-shaft may be drawnback a distance sufficient to carry the speed-gears X and O N entirelyout of mesh. The pins b and I) pass through the slides and through thebearing-blocks 0, thus holding said bearing-blocks in position.

By this construction, when the engine is used as a motor in drivingother machinery, the counter-shaft b may be drawn back, earrying thespeed-gears out of mesh, as described, so that they cannot in any Wayinterfere with the Working of the engine.

Having thus fully described my invention,

vhat I desire to secure by Letters Patent 1s- 1. The combination of thevertical gearframe 0, axle P, springs U, arms a u, rods 0;, o, and y,and boiler B, substantially as and for the purposes herein specified.

2. The combination of the vertical carrying and gear frame 0, axle P,and counter-shaft q, with the gears 19 n m mounted thereon, pinions 8 s,and the ground-wheels and gears G t and G 15, substantially in themanner and for the purposes herein specified.

3. The combination, in the main-gear train of a steam road-engine, oftwo or more pairs of speed-gears, each provided with a springratchet-clutch adapted and arranged to engage in one direct-ion only,and a shippinglever for controlling said clutches, whereby the relativespeeds of the engine and ground Wheels may be changed at will While themachine is in motion, substantially in the manner and for the purposesherein specified.

4. The combination of the sliding bearing g, frame 0, speed-gearcounter-shaft b m ounted thereon, pillow-block W, frame and guides Q V,and the pins b these members being all arranged substantially in themanner and for the purposes herein specified.

H. H. BRIDENTHAL, JR.

Witnesses:

PHILIP MCGUIRE, WM. MCKEE GALLAGHER.

